By the summer of 1955, the Davy Crockett craze was taking off in a big way.
 |
| Portion of an O'Neil ad from May 13, 1955 |
 |
| Portion of a Fisher's ad from May 27, 1955 |
 |
| Portion of a Kroger's ad from June 16, 1955 |
 |
| June 29, 1955 ad from Lorain Journal |
 |
| Portion of a Muir's ad from June 30, 1955 |
 |
| July 1, 1955 |
The famous frontiersman had been featured in a series of episodes on Walt Disney's Disneyland TV show beginning back in early December 1954. Soon, the legendary coonskin-capped character who died at the Alamo became the idol of millions of boys. Eventually in 1955, you could buy just about anything with a Davy Crockett theme, from toys to clothes to peanut butter.
With all of the newspaper advertisements promoting Davy Crockett merchandise for sale, the newspapers couldn't help but notice – and want to get in on the act and make a buckskin buck. So in June 1955, a Davy Crockett strip began its limited run in the pages of the Lorain Journal.
But the comic – In the Days of Davy Crockett – wasn't quite what you would have expected. Rather than focus on Davy Crockett, the strip featured the story of four of Davy Crockett's famous 'friends': Jim Bowie, Sam Houston, William "Buck" Travis, and Andrew Jackson. Each interacted with Davy in their lives, so he would figure prominently in their tales. With three of the men involved with the Alamo, the story of the Texas fight for independence figures prominently in the run of the strip.
Perhaps the creative team behind the strip, writer William Ritt and artist Alfred J. Buescher, just wanted to do something unique. Both Ritt and Buescher were affiliated with the Cleveland-based King Features Syndicate, so it's not too surprising that the Lorain Journal (which utilized many of the syndicate's cartoons and other features in its pages) ran the strip.
Here are the promotional pieces that appeared before the strip began its run. Most ran on the front page of the Journal.
 |
| June 1, 1955 |
 |
| June 3, 1955 |
 |
| June 3, 1955 |
 |
| June 4, 1955 |
Tomorrow: an ample sample of In the Days of Davy Crockett strips.
No comments:
Post a Comment